Having trouble getting enough greens or protein into your child?  Here's a great way to sneak it in.  

A couple of years ago, my husband and I replaced our daily multi vitamin with Green Vibrance and have been using it with great results ever since.  And what's even better is that they came out with a "Junior" version (click HERE to see the adult version).  This concentrated superfood with protein is a full balanced meal of proteins, fruits and vegetables and contains 9 billion probiotics from 9 strains. It is specifically formulated for children 2 - 12 and designed to support growth, maturation, healthy brain function, nutrition, digestion, circulation & immune health.  Children need protein to build muscle, bone, and a robust endocrine system, zinc to assure growth, healing, immunity and maturation through puberty, a host of trace nutrients to run and regulate enzyme systems throughout the body, fuel brain development, and, ultimately, support every body system. This will help fill in the nutritional gaps in a child’s often biased and randomly selected diet. 

THE recommended brand by The Weston A. Price Foundation and the gold standard in pure fish fat/oil from cod liver extracted through fermentation rather than cold/hot temps or chemical extraction as the rest of the industry uses. It is one of the best sources of Vitamins A + D and Omega-3 EFAs available.  Here’s more information on why this should become a part of your daily regimen. I highly recommend the liquid over the capsules.  It is taken in combination with the fermented skate liver oil below.  I highly recommend the liquid over the capsules and prefer the Arctic Mint flavor over any other.  Syringe included for ease of use, especially with children.  Taken in combination, this fermented cod liver oil and fermented skate liver oil are one of the primary reasons my family and I rarely get sick. 

Good nutrition is a cornerstone of good health and vital for proper development. Kids Natural Calm Multi combines the beneficial effects of magnesium with a comprehensive premium multi made of 24 organic fruits and veggies. This multi incorporates superfruits, regular fruits, vegetables and sprouts to create a perfect blend of key nutrients oftentimes missing from our kids' diets. Only organics are used to ensure that there are no pesticide, herbicide or fungicide residues, chemical fertilizers or genetically modified ingredients. 

This is my daughter's daily multi and it help her focus, maintain calm energy and feel her best.

THE best choice for cartilage fish oil.  Skate liver oil is complete in its offering of many nutrients in a similar balance as cod liver oil.  Unlike shark liver oil, skate liver oil is abundant in vitamins A, D, E, K and the full range of Omega fatty acids.  Plus it has all the unique nutrients found in shark liver oil such as Chondroitin, Squalene, and Alkoxyglycerols.

Skate liver oil is an exceptionally rich source of DHA.  It contains slightly more EPA/DHA per serving than fermented cod liver oil at 15-16% DHA, 12% EPA.  The skate oil provides a slightly different vitamin D profile than the fermented cod liver oil, so there is an advantage in taking them in combination.  Vitamin D is critical to good bone health and help lower risks of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. 

The dark berries from the elder tree  may have anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anticancer properties and have been shown to shorten the duration of colds and flus, and help boost the immune system, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.  My family and I use this preventatively once a day from October to May. In the event one of us gets sick (which is rare), we bump it up to three times a day, which always seems to get us back on our feet in just a day or two.   

I recommend this particular product because to date, it is the purest one I've found and the only one with NO added sugar, artificial sweeteners, alcohol and other unnecessary additives.  Moreover, it has one of the highest concentrations of Sambucus Nigra L., the active ingredient, of any other brand.  

This is the new mom BIBLE!  If you or someone you know is having a baby (or already have a young one who is having sleep issues), this is a MUST-READ.  Written by one of the most renowned experts on children’s bedtime and nap time, this book was my bible from the time my daughter was born until she was about 3 - 4 years.  In fact, I kept it on my night table for reference throughout that entire period.  

I cannot say enough about this book and how much it helped me gain my sanity after training my child to sleep.  I have taken every word of advice Dr. Weissbluth has offered (even some that seemed counter-intuitive) and he was right every single time.  The schedule he recommended seemed restrictive at first, but I soon realized that it was because of this schedule that my child rarely (if ever) cried. I always knew when she was hungry, sleepy and poopie based on the schedule. She was also never over-tired, which is one of the primary reasons babies and toddlers cry and misbehave.  

Most importantly, it allowed my husband and me to have a life and get rest ourselves.  Even though it seemed like it would be difficult to implement, in the end, it allowed us to have more free time together, because our daughter slept!!!  

If you have or are having twins, there is a special guid for multiples as well:  Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins: A Step-by-Step Program for Sleep-Training Your Multiples

I'm such a big fan of Sally Fallon and her original book, Nourishing Traditions, that I, of course, had to buy and recommend this, one of her subsequent books on using traditional nutritional wisdom to raise your child in a healthy, natural way.  

If you're not familiar with the concept of traditional diets, Paleo, or the work of the Weston Price Foundation, then you will likely have your dietary and health belief systems turned upside down (in a good way!). Those of you who are familiar with traditional diet concepts will find this book to be extremely thorough on using real foods and tying together many key topics about how to raise a healthy child.  The sections I specifically thought were fantastic were the discussions about:

• Healthy fats, especially since due to complete misrepresentations of fats and cholesterol by the media, so many parents today fear fats, which are essential to a child's nutrition and development.
• The vitamins and mineral crucial prior to conception and during pregnancy.
• Toxic chemical exposure in every day life/products and their risks during pregnancy.
• What is in conventional, "modern" infant formula.
• Treating common childhood ailments with a mainly natural approach vs. mainstream medicine.